5 ms·

New York City bans new natural gas hookups in step toward all-electric future

10 points by underscore_ku 5y ago

glanzwulf 5y ago
Such a shame. I get where they're coming from but cooking on an eletric stove is just not the same. I recently moved to Germany, and it's the same here, I don't think I've seen a single flat with a gas stove and it really put a damper on the move.
- acdha 5y ago
  Buy an induction stove. Everyone I know who complained about this stopped afterwards.
- keeganjw 5y ago
  I always preferred gas stoves over electric too until I learned what a massive source of indoor air pollution they are. They natural gas gives off tons of particulates too small to see and create levels of air pollution that if it were outside would be considered very unhealthy. Now I don't want one in my home but I'm stuck with the one in my apartment.
raxxorrax 5y ago
Better search for natural sockets instead of natural gas reservoirs I guess. Heating water with electricity is expensive and depending on energy production not more ecological. The expensive part is probably secondary for people building in NYC anyway, but I don't think it should be a general recommendation. I work for a company that also builds electrical water heaters and heat pumps and business is very good, not complaining, but electricity is a high value form of energy and I don't think we are in a place to switch yet. It is worthwhile for someone with a house and if some parameters are right and you also invest in solar and batteries, you can have a pretty nice setup. It still requires a lot of up front investment and you can break even at some point. But at first you would only do it for your love of nature. At least that is the situation in the northern part of Europe, the situation might be different in the US.
- mytailorisrich 5y ago
  Energy production is moving to electricity only. Based on that the simplest and most efficient is probably to use electricity directly for everything at home. There are discussions of reusing the gas distribution infrastructure for hydrogen, but hydrogen would be produced with electricity as energy source. So hydrogen is just storage with probably a lower efficiency overall although electricity transmission incurs quite some losses.
  - onecommentman 5y ago
    The assertion that “energy production is moving to electricity only” is not supported by use data for the US over the last 10 years. https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/charts/Energy/Energy_2010_United-States_US.png https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/charts/Ene... https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/charts/Energy/Energy_2020_United-States.png https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/charts/Ene... These are Lawrence Livermore National Labs (Larry Labs for short) energy flow diagrams (first developed in the 1970s) describing US energy production and use, and with which every US energy professional is familiar. I recommend anyone with even a casual interest to take a look…
onecommentman 5y ago
This is a City where you generally do not get a microwave or dishwasher in your rental apartment, nor an air conditioner, nor are landlords legally required to provide a refrigerator or stove. https://www.brickunderground.com/rent/nyc-landlord-requirements-and-what-is-not-provided https://www.brickunderground.com/rent/nyc-landlord-requireme... I think NYC has their regulatory priorities a little mixed up…

10 points by underscore_ku 5y ago

Such a shame. I get where they're coming from but cooking on an eletric stove is just not the same. I recently moved to Germany, and it's the same here, I don't think I've seen a single flat with a gas stove and it really put a damper on the move.

acdha 5y ago
Buy an induction stove. Everyone I know who complained about this stopped afterwards.
keeganjw 5y ago
I always preferred gas stoves over electric too until I learned what a massive source of indoor air pollution they are. They natural gas gives off tons of particulates too small to see and create levels of air pollution that if it were outside would be considered very unhealthy. Now I don't want one in my home but I'm stuck with the one in my apartment.

raxxorrax 5y ago

Better search for natural sockets instead of natural gas reservoirs I guess. Heating water with electricity is expensive and depending on energy production not more ecological. The expensive part is probably secondary for people building in NYC anyway, but I don't think it should be a general recommendation. I work for a company that also builds electrical water heaters and heat pumps and business is very good, not complaining, but electricity is a high value form of energy and I don't think we are in a place to switch yet. It is worthwhile for someone with a house and if some parameters are right and you also invest in solar and batteries, you can have a pretty nice setup. It still requires a lot of up front investment and you can break even at some point. But at first you would only do it for your love of nature. At least that is the situation in the northern part of Europe, the situation might be different in the US.

mytailorisrich 5y ago
Energy production is moving to electricity only. Based on that the simplest and most efficient is probably to use electricity directly for everything at home. There are discussions of reusing the gas distribution infrastructure for hydrogen, but hydrogen would be produced with electricity as energy source. So hydrogen is just storage with probably a lower efficiency overall although electricity transmission incurs quite some losses.
- onecommentman 5y ago
  The assertion that “energy production is moving to electricity only” is not supported by use data for the US over the last 10 years. https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/charts/Energy/Energy_2010_United-States_US.png https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/charts/Ene... https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/charts/Energy/Energy_2020_United-States.png https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/charts/Ene... These are Lawrence Livermore National Labs (Larry Labs for short) energy flow diagrams (first developed in the 1970s) describing US energy production and use, and with which every US energy professional is familiar. I recommend anyone with even a casual interest to take a look…

onecommentman 5y ago

This is a City where you generally do not get a microwave or dishwasher in your rental apartment, nor an air conditioner, nor are landlords legally required to provide a refrigerator or stove. https://www.brickunderground.com/rent/nyc-landlord-requirements-and-what-is-not-provided https://www.brickunderground.com/rent/nyc-landlord-requireme... I think NYC has their regulatory priorities a little mixed up…